Engine



E. V. SALA.

i l ENGINE; APPLICATION FLED MAR. l2.

Patented J an. 6, 1920.

2 SHEETb-SHEET l INVENTDH E. V. SALA.

ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.12.1911.

1,327,172, Patelited Jan. 6, 1920.

I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. 'JQ'Z- INVEN'Tc/1a7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EARL V. SALA,OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

ENGINE.

leemte.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 6, 1920.

Application filed March 12, 1917. `Seria1 No. 154,127.

To all 'l0/wm t may concern:

lie it known that l, EARL` V. SALA, a citi- .ren of the lnitcd States, and a resident of rToledo. in the county of Lucas and State of aflhiophave invented a certain new and useful 4Engine; and l do hereby declare the folL1A lowmg to be a full, clear, and exactdescrip-V tion of the invention, such vas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine, reference being had totheaccompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part lof this specii cation.

illy invention relates to internal coinbustion engines and it has for its objectL to provide an engineV which may be made ata lowcost of production and yet one which is exceedingly etiicient and has a very small num# ber of movable parts. for its object to providev a silent running engine wherein the cylinders maybe charged with the explosive mixture and wherein the products of the combustion maybe conipletely discharged at the minimum amount of loss of energyin the operation of the engine.

By my invention a means is provided for rapidly opening the passageways which terminate in large valve areas for tlie-fneland burnt gases to their fullest extent. Also, a

means is provided whereby the passageways leading to and from the engine `during the periods of the exhaust and the intake will be completely opened at the timos that the engine in its cycles of operation 4is ready to receive or eject the materials contained inv the cylinders. also, in constructionscon` taining my invention, the explosive mixture is heated by the heat of the exhaust products and, consequently, the passageways through which the ejected products pass are correspondingly cooled. Also by my invention an effective means` is provided for sealing the cylinder during the compression and power strokes 'from` any possiblev leakage.

lt particularly has example and shall describe it hereinafter. The construction selected is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

lnl the figures, Figure 1 is a side view of parts-of the engine and a vertical sectional view taken through the valve members of the engine, the piston rods andvalve rods' being shown interconnected diagrammati-` horizontal sectionalview taken through the line 2-2 indicated in Eig'.

cally. F ig. 2 is a 1 and Fig. isa vertical sectional view taken through the broken line 3-3 indicated in lig. is a side view of the engine Fig. '2.

cylinders. E ig. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration ofthe cyclic operations of the engine l, 2, 3 and l indicate engine elementsytliat is, the parts of the engine which cooperate to control'the engine gases and which are operated by the explosion of the gases.I

The engine is provided with a casing 10` which is common to all of the elements for inclosing the crank shaft and pistonrods. It is prof'ided with the portion 11 which is bolted to the cvlinder casing 12` and the lower portion 1b which is bolted to the por- The lowei'pai't of the casing 10` is pro-4 vided with a crank shaft 15 which extends between the partsy 11 and 13 and is supported in suitable bearings. The piston rods 17 are Vconnected to the crank shaft 15 and' to the engine pistons'. The pistons are provided withtherings 19 which seal the interior of the cylinder from leakage during the times of the explosion and the conipressioir The cylinder casing 12 is providedwitha suit` able jacket having tlie'cliainber 18 for con# taining water or other cooling medium Afor reducing the temperature of the engine.

Piston valve members 31, 32, 33 and -are located within the casing 12 of the engine. The piston valve members are loflg maman? mOi/able inthe engine casing-"12.

They are positively operated bythe crank shaft of theengine or by some other ymeans which will synchronously operate the pistonl valve members with respect to the inovef ments ofthe piston. The piston valve inembers maybe driven by a sprocket gear located on the crank shaft l15. shaft 15 is connected to a crank shaft by means of a sprocket chain 27 and a sprocket gear. Thecrankshai't is connected to rods 35 which are connected to pairs of ears 36 extending from the pistons 31, 32, 33 rand 34. The engine cylinders arc provided with The crank ports and the engine casing and the piston valve members are provided with passageways for controlling the flow of the fuel and burnt gases of the engine. The connections between the pistons of the engine and the valve members are such that they move in a two-to-one relation, that is, the pistons make two strokes in a given direction, while the valve members make a short single stroke. rllhe strokes of the valve members 'are such that they quickly open the passageways of the engine to their widest extent and quickly close them while the pistons are performing their operations in the cycles of the engine elements.

The valve members 31, 32, 33 and 34 extend to near the top of the casing. The casing is provided with plates 37 which are bolted onto the top of the engine. The cas` ing 12 is provided with passageways 4l, 42, 43 and 44 for the burnt gases and also passageways 5l, 52, 53 and 54 which communicate with the fuel supply of the engine. The ignition plugs 56 are inserted in the engine cylinders and extend into the explosion space 47 whereoy the explosive charges are ignited at the beginning of the power stroke in the manner well known in the art.

rlhe cylinders of the engine in which the valve members move and the cylinders in which the engine pistons move are arranged in pairs. rlhe passageways 41 to 44 and the passageways 51 to 54 which communicate respectively with the exhaust and intake manifolds of the engine, are controlled by the movable piston valve members 31 to 34, respectively. rflic openings G1, 62, 63 and 64, formed in the valve members, are adapted to register, either with the exhaust passageways 4l to 44 or with the intake passageways 51 to 54, respectively. The openings 41 to 44, 51 to 54 and 61 to 64 permit the gases to pass to and from the engine cylinders, that is, to and from the other cylinder of the pair in which each cylinder is coupled or associated. rThe arrangement may be such that the openings or ports 61 to 64 will register with the passageways 41 to 44 when the valve members have completed movements in one direction and to register with the passageways 51 to 54 when the valve members have completed their opposite movements.

Theports or openings 71, 72, 73 and 74 in the casing permit the gases to enter and exhaust from the cylinders. By this means the passageways leading to each engine cylinder from the source of fuel supply and the passageways which lead to the exhaust of the engine, from each engine element are controlled by the movements of two valve members, that is, one of the openings 61 to 64 in a valve member controls the direct communication between an engine cylinder and the manifolds, while one of the opencoiinect between the engines in pairs. They ,extend through the engine casing and through the valve members. They terminate in the openings 61 to 64 and 71 to 74. The passageway 8l leads from the exhaust and intake passageivays 42 and 52 of the engine element 2 to the engine cylinder of element 1, while the passageway 82 leads to and from the engine element 1 having passageways 41 and 51. Also, the passageways 83 and 84 interconnect the engine elements- 3 and 4 in the saine manner.

The piston valve members 31 to 34 are 4each provided with a small neck 91 interconnecting two enlarged cylindrical portions 92 and 93. The extensions of the passageways 83 are through the portions 92 of the valve members. The valve members are made hollow and the passageways 83 in the portions 92 are separated from the rest of' the interior of the valve members by the partitions 94. Above and below the openings 61 to 64 which terminate the passageways 81 to 84, and in the enlarged portions 92 are located piston rings. In the portions 93 are located broad piston rings The portions 92 open and close one end of the passageways 81 to S4 by opening and closing the openings 61 to 64, and the portions 93 open and close the other end of the passageway/'s by opening and ,closing the openings 71 to 74 in the casing. The ends of the valve members are connected together by tubular passageways 96. Oil may be fed to the top of the valve members, and allowed to pass down through them. The restricted passageways 96 will operate to suck and work the oil back and forth and downwardly across the passageways 81 to 84 in which the tubular walls of the passageways 96 are located. Thetop of the engine cylinder communicates with the valve member cylinder through the port 97 which is located at a point intermediate the portions 93 and 94 of the piston valve members.

The openings 71 and the valve members 31 control the connection 81 leading from the passageways 42 and 52, while the passageways 42 and 52 are controlled by the opening 62. The intake of the charging gas and the exhaust of the products of combustion of the engine element 1 is thus dependent upon, not only the movements ot' the valve member 31, but also the movements of the valve member 32. The openings 71 to 7a are so located as to be 2000 in advance ot the opening ot the intake passageways oi the engine elements of which they form a part, that is, the opening 71 is such that itv begins tc open the passageway S1 at 2000 in advance of the time in which the opening G1 opens the intake passageway 51. Also, the opening 71 is of such size and so located in the cylinder 31 that the passageway 8l is closed 20 behind the closing of the passageway 51. rl`he opening ports ot the exhaust passageways being 18()O from the opening ports of the intake passageways a corresponding relation exists bctween the opening and closing of the ports to the interior of the cylinder above the pistons. The openings 71 to 7a are located 110o as measured in the circle described by the crank pins or" the sha-'ft of the valve .members in advance of the opening of the intake ot the engine cylinders of the pairs in which they are associated, that is, the opening 71 begins to open the passageway S1, 110O in advance of the opening of the intake passageway 52 to the valve member 32, or 220O as measured in the circular movements oi the engine crank pin of the element l. The openings 71 to 711, however, are 70O after the openings of the exhaust passageway, ot the cylinders of the other of the engine elements in the associated pairs, take place, that is, the opening 71 be'ins to open the passageway 81, O after the opening G2 of the valve member 32 begins to open the exhaust 42.

The engine elements are connected to the crank shaft at points O ahead oi' each other. The pistons of the engine elements are connected to the crank shafts so as to perform in a certain sequence the cyclic 0perations ot each engine element. In the form shown the engine element 3 follows in sequence the enfrine element 1 and then the engine element 4C follows in the performance ot the same operation of the cycle and then the engine element 2 follows the performance of the engine element l, so that the engine elements in the order ot 1, 3, 11 and 2, perform the four cycles.

las shown in Fig. 5, the driving stroke of the engine piston of the element 1 moves the f crank pin from the radial line A to the radial line B. Meantime, the connection 81 is opened by the valve member 31 which, as indicated by the circular movements of the crank pin ot the valve member of the element 2 passes from the radial line A to the radial line B and when it reaches B the connection 31 is closed. The cylinder 32 has also been moving from a point measured on the crank pin from the radial line A to the radial line B, during which time the intake V through the valve member 31 until the coinmunication is cut off by the valve member 31, which occurs when the crank pin of the piston of the engine moves across the radial line B. It thus has an intake, in this construction, while the crank pins of the engine are moving 220.

As the crank pin or' the piston of the engine element 1 moves from the radial line A to the radial line B, the port 61 is open and closesl when the Vcrank pin reaches the radial line B, although the opening V52, which comnnmicates with the manifold leading from the carbureter, is opened until the y crank pin reaches the radial line A, C. During the time or the movement of the crank pin from the radial line B to the radial line A, C, the piston of the engine 1 is compressing. Shortly after the movement of the crank pin through the radial line A, C, the explosion takes place and drives the piston until the cra-nk pin passes through the radial line D. When it passes through the radial line D the port 71 opens the connection 31. The exhaust port 42, however, has by this time been opened and was opened when the crank pin passed the radial line fr, C, namely, when the crank pin of the valve member 31 is at C. While the crank pin ot the engine 1 passes across the radial line l) to the radial line A the port 71 is open and also the exhaust port 12 is open, whereby the products of combustion pass out through the ports 71 and 62 through the exhaust passageway 12. The. exhaust ports of the engine are thus opened while the engine crank pins describe 220O in the construction described. When the crank pin of the engine 1 passes through the radial line A, C the port G1 again begins to open the passageway 52 and the gases begin to pass in through the ports 71. The gas continues to pass into the valve member 31 as before notwithstanding the fact that the piston of the engine 1 has begun to return owing to the vacuous condition produced in the sleeve by the outward movement of the piston.

The same cycle of operations is performed by the other engine elements which are thus inter-related in pairs, the sequential operations of the engine elements 1, 4, 2 being in the order enun'ierated and 90 apart. Vihe same angular relation existing between the ports of each valve membei` in their openin and closing throughout the engine elements, there is also a uniform corresponding angular relation of the ports of the valve members `of the engines of the associated pairs so that all of the engine elements Will perform the same operation as described inconnection With the engine elements l and 2.

The passageways il to 44E and 51 to are connected to the manifolds G5 and 67. The exhaust manifold 65 is secured to the casing 12 by means of bolts While the manifold 67 for the explosive mixtures is secured to the casing l2 by means of bolts and is connected to the carbureter 68.

cla-im:

1. In an engine, the combination of an engine cylinder, a pair of piston Valves, each piston having heads and a passageway in one of the heads, a valve cylinder for each of the valves, the engine having a. port connecting the engine cylinder with one of the valve cylinders intermediate the heads, the passageway to the port controlled by both valve pistons.

Q. In an engine, the combination of a pair of engine pistons, a pair of valve members, each valve member having a passageway extending through the body of the valve member for controlling the intake and exhaust gases, and a passageway extending through the body ofthe valve member for controlling the intake and exhaust gases tnat pass through the passage-Ways of the other valve member.

3. In an engine the combination of a casing, a pair of pistons a pair of valve members, the casing having a pair of engine cylinders and a pair of valve member chambers and a plurality of passageways, one passageway connecting each valve member chamber with its associated engine cylinder, two other of said passageways for connecting the valve member chambers for conducting intake and exhaust gases from one chamber to the other and another of said passageways for intake and exhaust gases connected to each valve chamber, the valve members having passageufays for controlling the flow of the intake and exhaust through the passageways of the casing ln testimony whereof, l have hereunto signed my name to this specification.

EARL V. SL. 

